17

Chapter 17: Lilium

My first memories were of that bed, in that room.

When I first became aware of myself, I was bombarded by sensations. The heat of the air around me, the softness of sheets, the smells of sawdust and disinfectant, the lack of anything in the air to taste. I hadn't even opened my eyes, and it was all slightly overwhelming.

Given the staggering immensity and variety of these feelings, it's no wonder that the first things infants do is cry. Indeed, how could any human react, when they are bombarded with things they have never known before, and have no other way to express it? But I… I did not cry. I didn't even moan, or whimper. I just laid there, eyes stilled closed, letting the sensations overwhelm me for the time to took for my body to become used to it.

Then I frowned. Wait a minute. How did I know that my body would become used to these feelings? And for that matter, how did I know what a 'body' and 'feelings' were? The moment I thought of these words, their meanings came to mind, like entering something into a search engine and having the result spat back out at you. Which in turn meant that I understand the concept of things such as 'spat', 'mind' and 'search engine'. Now how was that?

I certainly had no memories associated with things. I had no memories beyond that time lying in that bed. Maybe I had the memories at one point, and then lost them. But then shouldn't the knowledge associated with such memories be gone as well? A closer inspection showed that, no, I had not lost any memories. Somehow, I knew all these things, without having experienced them.

To have knowledge with no corresponding memories. Comparing that memory-less knowledge with the few memories I had—the sensation of a bed, of heat, of smelling—I deduced that such an experience was rather… odd.

Then I tried moving, and the bombardment came anew. The sound of rustling sheets, of the stiffness in my joints, the intake of breath that I automatically knew was a response to said stiffness. Seriously, all I had done was lie there and then fidget a little, and my senses were having a field day. How did anyone stand this?

At that point, I also became aware of a strange sound. How had I not noticed it before? It was metallic, as well repetitive. It came, again and again, at regular intervals. A kind of… ticking. A clock, or something that had a clock. Huh. Now I had a way to tell time. This knowledge in my head told me how to count, so all I had to do was keep track of the number of ticks, and I'd know how much time had passed since I awoke. Useful.

So, while I waited for the maelstrom of sensations to finally abate, I kept track of the number of ticks. When I finally felt comfortable enough to open my eyes, I counted a total of two hundred and ten ticks. Three and a half minutes. So I knew what math was, and could do it in my head.

Slowly, with great care so as to not give myself too much of a shock, I opened my eyes for the first time.

The amount of light in the room was annoying, and I could almost feel my pupils contract in response. The instinct was strong to render my eyes closed again, but I wanted to see my surroundings, and that desire trumped my instincts. Eventually, once the amount of light allowed to enter my eyes was restricted enough, I began to look around.

I was in what appeared to have once been an office or sorts. The room itself gave off a detached, professional atmosphere, and I could see spots on the wall opposite of me where boards might have been. The walls themselves were metal, but not reflective, so I did not see what I looked like. That also meant that, since the walls were the first thing I saw, the first color I saw was gray. And when I looked at both the bed and myself, the two things were practically the same shade of white.

My knowledge told me that such a thing was because I did not possess enough of a pigment called melanin, which was what caused tanning. And the way for me to produce melanin was too be exposed to light in the ultraviolet section of the spectrum, most easily done via sunlight. But since I had never seen the sun, it made since that I didn't have any kind of tan.

Then I heard a gasp, as well as the sound of twin objects hitting the ground, and turned my head to look at something to my right. Sitting there, in what I knew was a 'chair', was another person. This person appeared to be relatively young, as least as far as how my mind told me humans looked. He had hair that looked to be between white and gray, most similar to that of sea salt. His eyes were a purple like lilacs, and he wore a white lab coat over some kind of uniform.

The two objects that hit the ground were books, ones that I instantly felt a sense of raw power emanating from. I wonder what they were for. Looking back at the other person, I saw that he was staring at me, his eyes showing a myriad of emotions. Shock, anticipation, hope, fear, pride, caution… Was simply seeing me enough to cause all that? Why?

For a long moment, neither of us said anything. He continued to look a me with those many emotions, and I looked back with simple curiosity. Eventually, however, I felt a sense of impatience, and chose to spoke. Moving my lips to form the words, feeling the air exit my throat and the vibration of my vocal chords, I spoke my first words. It was a question, something I was curious about.

"Ti eímai egó?"

"What am I?"

The first words he had ever heard his creation say, and they were in Greek, the language where science began. Ironic, Keijutsu idly thought.

For a moment, upon seeing those eyes open, he felt a sense of intense vertigo. As if the world were crumbling beneath his feet, and he had no idea of the horror would come after. Perhaps that was what Frankenstein had felt, when he beheld the results of his own work. But unlike the good doctor, Keijutsu did not run from this feeling. Rather, he embraced it. And in doing so, the horror vanished, replaced by pure awe.

Slowly, he smiled, and said "You are a human being that I created, the result of the marriage between magic and science."

Silence resumed in response to that, and Keijutsu took that chance to more critically examine the being he had created. He knew it had been a toss up as to what their sex would be, and it turned out that they were female. As he intended, their biological age was equal to that of a sixteen-year old. She had, he was somewhat pleased to note, the same hair and eye color as he, though her hair was straight and long enough to reach her waist.

Her facial structure was somewhat similar to Rias's, though not enough be considered exactly alike. And her build was similar as well, except that she did not possess the same set of massive breasts as the redhead. Seriously, how the Gremory heiress managed to walk around with those without succumbing to back pains all the time was beyond him.

"Created…" she said, and he refocused. "So if you are my creator, then since you are male, does that mean that you qualify as my father?" she asked.

Keijutsu blinked once. Twice. Three times. That… was not a question he was prepared for.

However, after thinking about it for a moment, he supposed that he did count as her father. Both metaphorically, seeing as he created her, and biologically, since his DNA was used in creating her. Another ironic aspect of this situation. Without even having thought of it, he had, at age eighteen, become a father. Oh, Fate had a strange sense of humor.

He nodded, saying "Indeed I am."

The girl nodded back, as if he had confirmed something she already knew, and looked around the room. "And what is significant about where I am?"

"This room is usually my office, the one connected the underground laboratory where I conduct my research," he told her.

"Research?" she parroted.

Smiling even wider, Keijutsu nodded. "Yes, research. My current focus is on what can and cannot be accomplished by using magic, as the exact limits of it are unknown. In order to help forward my research on this topic, I decided to test if magic could be used to create a functioning, intelligent human being. That is to say, you."

The girl looked away, towards the ceiling. "So… that is what I am? The result of an experiment?"

Keijutsu nodded, his smile momentarily fading. He realized that, when hearing what he just said, a normal person might feel a sense of indignation, of anger, perhaps even despair. It was a normal human reaction to realizing that the reason for your creation was not quite so lofty. But he would not do her the disservice of lying. She deserved the truth, no matter how ugly. "Does that upset you?" he asked aloud.

To his slight surprise, she shook her head. "Not really. You had a question, and creating me was how to obtain the answer." Then she looked at him again. "However, given that the objective of your research is to find something that magic cannot do, wouldn't successfully creating me mean that the experiment was a failure?" she asked.

He chuckled. "Technically, yes. I suppose it would mean that." Then he shrugged. "But to be honest, I don't find myself to concerned over it. To paraphrase Thomas Edison, 'I have not failed. I've just found another way that magic does work'."

She mulled that over for a minute, before frowning. "Was this Edison also researching magic?" she asked.

Now Keijutsu laughed, sitting back in his chair. "No, he was actually talking about making the incandescent lightbulb. And he didn't find just one way it didn't work; he found ten-thousand. But the point remains that, even though creating you did not tell me what magic can't do, it does tell me one more thing it can, which brings me one step further to success."

"I see," she said, before giving a very small smile. "Then I am… glad… to have helped you, Father."

There it was. That word again. The moment he heard it, Keijutsu tensed, before slowly relaxing. 'It's going to be a long time before I get used to that. I can tell,' he thought.

Fortunately, he didn't have to reply for that, as the girl continued on with another question. "I do wonder something, though. If you can use magic, and I was created from you, does that mean I can use magic as well?"

Keijutsu hummed, thinking about it. "I suppose so. Or at least, I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to use magic," he thought aloud. Then he blinked, and quickly added "However, whether or not you can do so with any degree of control is another matter entirely. It took me years to be able attain the level of discipline that I have now."

Despite that, she held up a hand to her face and asked "How do I cast magic?"

He looked at her for a moment, confirming that, yes, she was serious about trying it right now. He sighed. So, she had inherited his habit of immediately testing something he was curious about. How wonderful.

"Well," he conceded "Magic as used by humans and Devils is remarkably alike; what's required is a clear and focused imagination, and then you have to bring what you have imagined into reality. The simplest example would be to generate an orb of energy in the palm of your hand. To do that, focus on the thrum of magic energy beneath your skin, and imagine it flowing like a river into your palm. Then visualize the orb clearly in your mind, and it should work. Though, since this is your first try, don't be disappointed if it doesn't work."

She nodded, and turned her attention inwards. If she focused hard enough, she could feel something coursing beneath her skin. However, it wasn't a thrumming so much as it was a pulse, similar to that of her heartbeat. She felt a rush of heat the more she focused on that pulse, almost like a fire. But unlike a regular fire, this felt both less wild, and more… ruthless. As if it would only affect what she wanted it to, and instead of just burning it, it would keep going until there was nothing left. Not even ash.

The girl channeled that power, and imagined it moving down her arm towards her palm. It did so almost eagerly, as if the energy itself had emotions and was glad to obey her commands. She felt it pool within her hand, and the skin there began to noticeably become warm. Then, she did as Keijutsu instructed, and envisioned it forming a sphere above her hand.

Almost instantly, a roar not unlike that of spreading fire filled the air, and the orb appeared in her hand. However, rather than be just pure energy, this orb was black with a red outline, and flickered like an actual fire. "Hmm, strange…" she said, looking closer at it.

Meanwhile, Keijutsu's eyes went huge and his jaw tried going for the floor. Even though this was his first time actually seeing it, it was easy to tell what that thing was. And as to how, his mind was instantly able to make the connection. The Power of Destruction was an ability that, according to Sona, could only be used by members of the Bael Clan. But Rias's mother had been Venelana Bael, before she became Venelana Gremory. Which was why she and Sirzechs could use it.

He had used Rias's DNA simply because the increased longevity of Devils would, he had hoped, lead to a greater-than-average lifespan for the human he created. And maybe it did, thought he had no way yet of knowing. But beyond that, he had also created a human with the same powers. He had created a human with the Power of Destruction.

Well, shit.

Sona frowned. It had been an entire day, and Keijutsu still hadn't arrived at school. It wasn't like him to miss class. Unless it was for an experiment, that was. But even then, he'd usually notify her first that he wasn't going to be there so that she'd tell him what lessons he needed to catch up on. But this time, he hadn't even done that.

Normally, she wouldn't be so concerned, chalking it up to him simply having overlooked it. But given the recent debacle with Kokabiel, the fact that the only holy maiden to have left town was Irina, and her older sister was around… Yeah, she had more than a few reasons to be paranoid.

Which is why she was here now, standing in front of the door to Keijutsu's apartment. It was lunchtime right now, so she had a small amount of time to see if he was here and, if so, if he was alright. If something had managed to attack him while she wasn't looking, or if Serafall had decided to check again if Keijutsu was 'good enough' for Sona…

She still didn't even understand why the former heiress had decided to do that. It wasn't as if Sona was attracted to Keijutsu. Nope, not all. Sure, he was good-looking, that much she'd admit. And he was also smart, someone she could hold a decent conversation with, she didn't have to hide her Devil heritage, and someone who could make actually make her think. No, she was not attracted to Keijutsu Hatsume. But Serafall seemed connived that she was.

For all she knew, Serafall could be in there right now, getting just as close and physical as she had been during the open house, while Sona was just standing there! The moment she thought that, Sona's expression hardened, and she glared at the door in front of her. Not on her watch.

So, she raised a hand to the door and politely, but firmly, knocked three times. She didn't even have to wait a minute before the door opened. However, standing on the other side of it was… Suzuno Kamazuki. Her eyebrows went straight up, her mouth opening slightly in shock.

Suzuno, on the other hand, simply said "Ah, Sitri-san, it's see to see you. Please, come inside."

Still somewhat shocked at seeing one of the holy maidens in Keijutsu's house, Sona just nodded and walked inside. Also in the living room were Rasiel, who was sitting on the couch. Fronea was with there in her smaller form and curled up in the small girl's lap. Looking up at her upon her arrival, the Sphinx said "Well, the party's all here. Now we can all wait together."

At that, Sona managed to overcome her surprise, and asked "Wait? What are you waiting for?"

Rasiel smiled. "Oh, Keijutsu wanted the lab to himself for a while. He didn't want anyone disturbing him while he's implanting the required knowledge into his new test subject," she explained.

However, that explanation only served to further confuse her. "What new test subject are you talking about?" she asked, before realizing the answer to her own question. There was only one thing he was testing at that point in time. And if there was a new subject for that experiment…

"He actually did it. He managed to create life," she whispered faintly.

Suzuno nodded. "That's right. I've been living here since the Church excommunicated me, and in exchange I've been acting as Hatsume-san's assistant. I was there when he performed the final tests and watched as he successfully used magic to create a human. Now he's using the Phantom Books that Rasiel gave him to supply that person with the knowledge they need to function," she explained.

Sona looked at her for a moment, before numbly nodding. "I have to see this," she said.

Rasiel hummed and looked at a clock Keijutsu had mounted on the wall. "Well, he should be about done with the knowledge implantation about now anyway. Sure," she said, before lifting up Fronea and setting her to the side. Then the small girl hopped to her feet, creating a magic circle. Sona stepped into it and they were both enveloped in light. When it faded, they were standing in the main area of the lab, where various golems were still working on assigned projects.

The moment the circle faded, Sona walked forward and headed straight for the door to Keijutsu's office. Without delay, she pulled it open… just in time to see someone on the bed conjure a red-black orb.

Sona gasped, and both the girl and Keijutsu looked at her, the latter having turned around to do so. The moment Keijutsu saw her, her eyes went even wider, and his expression paled. For a moment, he just stood there, unsure of what to say. But then, with a large amount of mental effort, he managed to say "Sona-kaichou. I… didn't expect to see you here."

Such was the shock of the Sitri heiress—she was being shocked a lot today, she noticed—that she automatically replied "You didn't notify me that you wouldn't be able to attend school today. I was worried, so I came to check on you."

Keijutsu nodded. "I see. Yes, it is my fault you showed up then, isn't it? Still, I appreciate the show of concern very much. But as you can see, I'm quite fine, so perhaps we could take this conversation into the next room?" he asked. When Sona nodded, he looked back at the girl. "Wait here, please," he said, making her nod as well.

Quickly, he led her back out into the main lab, shutting the door behind him. The moment he did, he released a breath he didn't even know he had been holding. Suddenly, he looked very, very tired, enough that Sona wondered whether or not this would be a good time to ask.

Deciding that it was, Sona wasted no time in asking "Is that her? The human you've been trying to create?"

He nodded. "She is. I created her using two samples of already-existing DNA, one of which was my own. So she is, in a biological sense, my daughter," he replied.

Sona looked at her for a moment, before swallowing. "Your daughter?" she asked slowly. He grunted in confirmation, and Sona sat down at one of the benches. This was too much, far too much. She had respected Keijutsu's work, encouraged it in her own way, and was never one to tell him what was and wasn't possible. But somewhere, in the privacy of her own thoughts, she had believed that this would indeed be where Keijutsu found a limit.

Some part of her had still believed that one couldn't use magic to take something as priceless and valuable as life itself and recreate it. But now she had seen for herself that not had Keijutsu done it, but that human even had the Power of Destruction on top of that…

She blinked and looked up. "How does that girl have the Power of Destruction?" she questioned.

At that, the Artificer looked somewhat sheepish. "Well, like I said, I used two sets of DNA in the creation process. The second set, well, this is the nonzero chance that it may have come from someone who could possibly have contained certain genetics markers that were probably unique to members of the Bael clan," he said quickly.

Sona stared at him. "You used a sample of Bael clan DNA… in order to create a human..." she said.

When he nodded, she groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Why would you that?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Well, if I created a human using Devil DNA, I was honestly hoping that the result would be that the human possesses at least a portion of a Devil's increased longevity, enhanced senses, superhuman strength, etc. I hadn't really considered the possibility that any innate magical abilities unique to certain bloodlines might also be transferred," he admitted.

Sona looked up from where she was sitting. "I don't know whether to be more impressed or mortified. Do you have any idea of the ramifications for this? The amount of Devils that will be clamoring for a shot at using your creation process, the outcry from the Bael clan, everything!" she said, nearly shouting at the end.

Keijutsu raised an eyebrow. "Err, you're going to have to explain that part to me. Why would other Devils be interested in my life creation process?" he asked.

Now having something to distract herself with, Sona was able to speak more calmly. "As you know, Devils as a species have a very low birth rate. Not only is this due to our extended lifespan meaning that our society needs fewer children every generation to sustain itself, but the number of pure-blooded Devils remaining after the Great War also makes it much more difficult. But now, here comes along a tested method that, if modified, could be used to make new Devils for any interested person or group of people."

Keijutsu blinked. 'Huh. I hadn't even thought of using my invention to solve the population issue with the Devils. In fact, come to think of it, I could probably modify it to make new Angels and Fallen Angels too,' he thought. Of course, that train of thought then turned to the idea of the entire Grigori—or the 72 pillars, or whoever was interested, really—taking his invention and using it create new people on a mass scale and training them for war. A near-instant army. 'Yeah. That would be bad.'

"Okay, I see what you mean about other people wanting to use my invention. But why would the Bael clan in particular be upset about this?" he questioned.

"That's because the Bael clan is, amongst other thing, extremely proud of their blood and power, to the point that they look down on other Devils, even within the family, who aren't powerful. They also are protective of their bloodline and the Power of Destruction it grants. The Bael almost started a new civil war when they found out that Sirzech's and Rias's mother, Venelana Gremory née Bael, was able to pass it onto her children.

Keijutsu managed to avoid stiffening at that last part. 'And since I used Rias's DNA, that's why my… daughter… now has it too,' he thought. Out loud, he said "But now I've gone and used a DNA sample containing their bloodline and given that power to a human."

"Exactly. Unless we want them to take every ounce of political clout they have—which is a lot, by the way—and use it against us, we have to find some sort of cover story for why she has it. Then we need to find a way to make sure that people don't think you'll be able to do something like this again and come asking," Sona told him.

The white-haired Devil was silent for a moment, thinking. Plus, there was one other thing he had been curious about, something that he had completely forgotten. During his research on Devils, he had come across a snippet about how, when a Devil and a human conceived a child together, the child was always a Devil, one-hundred-percent of the time. The sample of his own DNA was one that he had set aside before becoming a Devil, but Rias wasn't and had never been human. So why was his offspring not a Devil?

Before he could move any further down that thought process, the two of them were interrupted by a voice asking "Father, who is this woman?"

They both looked to see that the white-haired girl was standing before them, having walked out of the room while they were talking. She was standing a bit unsteadily, as if she weren't quite sure how to use her legs. The fact she still wasn't wearing clothes was not ignored.

Keijutsu had visibly tensed in response to hearing the girl call him that, but he relaxed quickly enough and waved a hand. "This is Sona Sitri, my King, as well the President of the Student Council at the school I attend," he said.

Ever the one to maintain her sense of manners, Sona rose to her feet and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said.

The girl tilted her head curiously but did not bow back. Instead, she merely said "The pleasure is reciprocated, Sona Sitri. My name is…" Then she blinked, and her expression became even more curious. "Actually, I don't know what my name is. According to the knowledge I possess, such a thing is given to people by their parents. However, I believe Father has yet to do so."

Both girls looked at Keijutsu, and watched as his expression morphed into one of shock. 'She's right. All this time we've been talking, and before that when I envisioned creating her… I never gave any thought as to what her name would be,' he thought. To be fair to him, he truly didn't have any way to tell what her sex would be prior to actually conducting the experiment, so he didn't have a lot to go on.

But now the experiment had passed, and the look on the girl's face told him that she was obviously waiting for him to tell her what her name was. He doubted she's be pleased with a name like 'strawberry' or 'fishcake'. No, she deserved a name that was special. Something that reflected the pure nature of both her personality and what she represented, as well as her innocence. Something like…

Keijutsu paused, then smiled. Looking at her, he said "Your name is Lilium. Lilium Hatsume."